Wednesday, April 23, 2014

West Papua Issue Gets Hijacked

A collective sigh of disappointment went
out last week as news came out that the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) delegation
on a fact-finding mission to Tanah (West) Papua was in fact going to spend only
one day in the province and go no further than meeting the Indonesian
government, which claims sovereignty over the territory it calls “Irian Jaya”,
a mainly Melanesian and Christian part of Indonesia comprising the western half
of the island of New Guinea.

According to The Guardian newspaper,
West Papuan activists claim that the Indonesian military and police blocked
them from meeting with the delegation when it arrived in the Tanah Papuan
capital of Jayapura. Dozens of people were arrested and an elderly woman manhandled
by police when West Papuans gathered in the streets to protest against their
exclusion from the meeting.

At last June’s MSG leader’s summit in
Noumea, it was agreed that “the MSG fully supports the inalienable rights of
the people of West Papua towards self-determination as provided for under the
preamble of the MSG constitution,” and that “the concerns of the MSG regarding
the human rights violations and other forms of atrocities relating to the West
Papuan people be raised with the Government of Indonesia bilaterally and as a
Group.” The leaders had also called for a Ministerial Mission at the foreign
minister level to be led by Fiji’s
Foreign Minister to Jakarta and then to West Papua in 2013.

However, even before the delegation
including foreign ministers of Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands arrived
in Jakarta, the visit had become controversial with Vanuatu withdrawing from
the visit. In an interview with Radio Australia, Vanuatu foreign minister,
Edward Natapei claimed that the visit was hijacked by the Indonesian
government.

"Just one day before we were to
depart Vanuatu to travel to Indonesia, we got the program of the visit, which
neglected, it did not involve a meeting with civil society, it did not involve
a meeting with the West Papuan people, the leadership in West Papua," he
said.

"We realised that in fact it was
being hijacked by the government of Indonesia to work on another issue, which
was to promote economic ties and development cooperation with the government of
Indonesia."

According to Mr. Natapei, as part of the mission was t o assess what
support there was from indigenous groups there for the Vanuatu-based West Papua
National Coalition for Liberation to be given MSG membership, it was made clear
to the MSG leaders and the Indonesian government that Vanuatu would only
participate if the delegation was given the opportunity to meet civil society
groups, pro-independence groups, church leaders and other groups concerned with
alleged human rights violations in West Papua.

Howver, a meeting with the Indonesian
president in Jakarta on, the foreign ministers of Fiji, PNG and the Solomon
Islands signed a pledge of “non-interference” in Indonesia’s “internal
affairs”. The joint statement committed the parties to supporting each other’s
“sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity”, and pledged greater trade and
development co-operation between Indonesia and the MSG countries.

One of the early objectives behind the
establishment of the Melanesian Spearhead Group in 198 was to help the Melanesian people of New
Caledonia, the Kanaks - get their independence from France. While this is still
an ongoing process, the French government allowed the Kanak Independence
Movement - the FLNKS - to take up full membership of the Melanesian group. However,
it seems to be a different attitude in the case of Tanah Papua’s request to
join.

Speaking to the Solomon Star, Pastor
Alan Nafuki, the chairperson of the Vanuatu Free West Papua Association said
that he believes Indonesia is trying to divide members of the Melanesian
Spearhead Group and weaken their stance on West Papua.Pastor Nafuki said that
other MSG countries should have followed Vanuatu's lead and stayed home.

“We want to see Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and Solomon Islands to really talk with
Vanuatu and New Caledonia, and at least appreciate what we Melanesians see for
the betterment for our future, we do not depend on Indonesia, it's a powerful
country, we should not affiliate with Indonesia.”

Prior to the visit, columnist Graham Davis describedthe mission as walking “a
tightrope between the intense sensitivity of their Indonesian hosts and the
equally intense expectations of their Melanesian brothers and sisters in West
Papua.”

The issue of respecting the sovereignty
of a nation that is accused of systematic human rights abuse against a group of
people seeking self-determination is not an easy one to address, especially for
a country whose government has sought to have its own sovereignty respected on
the issue of return to democracy. Yet being respectful of another nation’s
sovereignty does not mean ignoring the plight of the marginalized and
victimized. Concern about human rights
abuse, indigenous rights abuse and socio-economic rights abuse can be raised,
must be raised. Respectfully of course. After all these rights are enshrined in
Fiji’s new constitution, even if they are limited in some aspects.

As human beings first, and also as
Pacific islanders, we are called to be in solidarity with those who experience
injustice and legitimated oppression. As a soon to be “true democracy” perhaps
we will be able to challenge our soon to be elected leaders to ensure that as a
nation we are not only sovereign and democratic, but also compassionate and
just towards our neighbours.

2 comments:

West Papua held national elections in January 1961 to form a New Guinea Council, but under influence of businessmen who wanted West Papua's gold & other wealth the Americans pressured the Dutch to sign an agreement asking the United Nations to occupy & rule West Papua. The New Guinea created a declaration of independence on 19 October 1961 but the United Nations ignored that.

On 21 September 1962 the United Nations seized control of West Papua in General Assembly resolution 1752 (XVII), under international law West Papua is a UN trust territory; see Trusteeship Systemhttp://un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter12.shtml

Under the UN Charter (article 76) every UN nation is legally required to help West Papua achieve "self-government or independence" but it has a lot of gold & wealth that the US, UK, and others want. Because the public does not know about General Assembly resolution 1752, and the public does not understand that West Papua is a trust territory, it has been easy for the UN nations to ignore their legal obligations and enslave the Papuan people and lands.

Hundreds of thousands have been killed during the Indonesian & United Nations occupation, untold $billions have been looted, the genocide process is half way towards completion and people around the world continue to dis-believe that such abuse is possible. The stories of horror are beyond telling and the corruption is epic.

The murders, illegal mining, and other abuse would end if Ban Ki-moon did his job of telling the Trusteeship Council about General Assembly resolution 1752 (XVII); but trans-national corporations have a lot of influence in New York so Ban Ki-moon still refuses to add the issue of West Papua & resolution 1752 to the agenda of the Trusteeship Council.

West Papua held national elections in January 1961 to form a New Guinea Council, but under influence of businessmen who wanted West Papua's gold & other wealth the Americans pressured the Dutch to sign an agreement asking the United Nations to occupy & rule West Papua. The New Guinea created a declaration of independence on 19 October 1961 but the United Nations ignored that.

On 21 September 1962 the United Nations seized control of West Papua in General Assembly resolution 1752 (XVII), under international law West Papua is a UN trust territory; see Trusteeship Systemhttp://un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter12.shtml

Under the UN Charter (article 76) every UN nation is legally required to help West Papua achieve "self-government or independence" but it has a lot of gold & wealth that the US, UK, and others want. Because the public does not know about General Assembly resolution 1752, and the public does not understand that West Papua is a trust territory, it has been easy for the UN nations to ignore their legal obligations and enslave the Papuan people and lands.

Hundreds of thousands have been killed during the Indonesian & United Nations occupation, untold $billions have been looted, the genocide process is half way towards completion and people around the world continue to dis-believe that such abuse is possible. The stories of horror are beyond telling and the corruption is epic.

The murders, illegal mining, and other abuse would end if Ban Ki-moon did his job of telling the Trusteeship Council about General Assembly resolution 1752 (XVII); but trans-national corporations have a lot of influence in New York so Ban Ki-moon still refuses to add the issue of West Papua & resolution 1752 to the agenda of the Trusteeship Council.